Overcrowded jail cited as reason for releases

Records obtained by the WDSU I-Team show that in 2013 so far, dozens of people arrested and charged with felony offenses in Jefferson Parish have been allowed to walk out of jail without posting bond. In some cases, people are allowed to walk out the same day as they were arrested.

The releases come about due to jail overcrowding, meaning people who should be kept in custody, are released.

Critics of the Jefferson Parish Correction Center in Gretna say there is a better way to deal with overcrowding. However, the Sheriff’s Office said they are doing the best they can with the limited space within the jail.

According to the incident report, Khalid allegedly choked his mother after a verbal argument.

Khalid was taken to the JPCC in Gretna. His bond was set at $500.

Within hours of his arrest he was released due to overcrowding, records show. The code on the record, “Spox 1” indicates the reason.

Darlene Santana, the executive director at the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children, said releasing arrestees the same day is a dangerous move.

Santana said Khalid shared a home with his mother and, based on the initial incident, had the potential to become violent again – and that’s what happened.

Four days after he was arrested and promptly released, records show Khalid was arrested again on simple assault. The alleged victim was his mother, again.

According to the report from the Sheriff’s Office, Khalid threatened his mother with “great bodily harm,” and despite a second arrest within days from his first, records obtained by the I-Team show Khalid was again released on the same day he was arrested due to overcrowding.

Santana said the situation, “Is very scary and is the most dangerous time for any survivor.”

Khalid isn’t the only person to be arrested and charged with felony offenses in Jefferson Parish and released on the same day.

Records show the situation happened dozens of times so far in this year.

People who were arrested on drug charges, DUIs, assault and domestic violence charges – some with hefty bonds set by judges as high as $50,000 to $75,000 – all were let go within hours due to lack of space at the facility.

Southern University New Orleans criminologist John Penny, said the situation is “Russian roulette.”

“It's hoping against hope that something is not going to happen, the problem you have is, often times, something does,” he said.

Parish officials determine who is let go, but some arrestees will have to be released, because the jail is barred from holding more than 1,100 inmates at any given time.

That limit is set by the federal government, which is concerned about sanitary conditions and safety.

When the number of inmates exceeds the allotted amount, the Sheriff’s Office has to selectively release inmates.

“There may be some merit to the fact that they do not want overcrowding in the prison system itself, but at the same time what about the possibility that it becomes an overcrowding issue on the streets with criminals who become a danger to the welfare of the community,” Penny said.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said the office gives careful consideration to who is released.

Those who are released still face the charges that are filed against them.

Officials told the I-Team that they base the decision on the type of charge and previous arrest record of the inmate.

“We've had re-offenders, but we've had less non-offenders than re-offenders. But the fact of the matter is when presented with the jail overcrowding, you have to do something and that is what we did. What we want is those with a high propensity for violent crime -- we want them locked up first,” Normand said.

However, Marjorie Esman with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said nothing is full proof.

The ACLU, usually an outspoken critic of local jails, supports the move by the parish.

“Well it's certainly better than a system that violates the law -- and is violent and overcrowded as we know Orleans Parish Prison is,” Esman said.

Esman said cramming too many inmates into too little jail space is one of the things that got the Orleans Parish Prison into hot water.